


The Choices Are Stark

by LogicalParafox



Series: STRQ Immortality [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Character Death, Drowning, F/F, F/M, Immortality, Implied/Referenced Torture, Inspired by The Old Guard, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:28:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27345832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LogicalParafox/pseuds/LogicalParafox
Summary: A team STRQ AU inspired by The Old Guard. Declared dead, Raven, Qrow, and Tai hunt from the shadows, driven to find closure after Summer's disappearance.
Relationships: Raven Branwen/Summer Rose/Taiyang Xiao Long
Series: STRQ Immortality [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2005294
Kudos: 17





	1. A Lion In A Cage

_All was darkness. Darkness and pain. The water crushed in and in, filling her mouth and nose and she had no air to scream, much less breathe. Her body spasmed, its desperate attempts to save them cutting her out of the process entirely as her eyes flared weakly, the silver light illuminating solid metal bare inches from her face, not even bubbles remaining of the last of her air. In her last moments of life, she clawed spasmodically at the metal, following worn paths that showed the limit of her movement in the tiny box, her coffin, the holes serving only to let in more water. As the light in her eyes faded, Summer tried to remember love and family and home, but there was only freezing water and crushing pressure. The darkness returned._

* * *

Tai worried about Raven sometimes. Well, he worried about her a lot of the time but thus was the nature of being the only member of their group with any appreciation for the ever-increasing dangers they faced.

“Are you sure we should be taking this risk?”

Qrow rolled his eyes as he checked his holster, running a thumb along Harbinger before stowing his weapon at his hip. “You always say that.”

“We’re always taking risks.”

Raven glanced back at him, lifting one eyebrow as they made eye contact.

Tai’s shoulders drooped, then squared as he took his position.

Raven flicked her fingers and Qrow darted forward, scouting ahead. He poked a hand back around the corner and gave the signal. One guard coming, alone as they always were at this shift. Bad luck for him.

* * *

Vincent regretted agreeing to cover this shift. The pay was good but the boredom almost wasn’t worth it. He’d volunteered to take a few rounds of foot patrol in an effort to keep awake, the cheap coffee no longer having an effect against his double shift. He rounded a corner and never had to worry about anything again.

* * *

Raven lowered the body to the floor, leaving the ice-dust blade buried through the guard’s chest to keep his blood from giving them away. She popped the hilt of Omen free and returned it to the scabbard, inclining her head slightly when Tai emerged to grab the guard’s feet. They hauled him out of sightlines and continued on their way.

The guard here was lax, the perils of believing that quantity could make up for lack of quality. _Never underestimate the power of human error. Or laziness._ The protocols called for all patrols to have two people spaced far enough apart that they would have been difficult to eliminate before one could sound an alarm. The higher-ups wrote up standard operating procedures and then never checked to see if they were followed. Over time, the guards slacked off, drawing lots or trading favors and dutifully falsifying the log books to continue drawing a high salary for precision guarding when in reality they played cards and flicked boredly through channels.

Tai darted forward, putting his back to the wall and forming a cup with his hands as Raven ran at him, planting her foot in his grip as he lifted her with barely a strain. A quick tap from a lightning dust blade and the wires sizzled and died.

The team advanced.

* * *

Lionheart rubbed the back of his neck, rolling his shoulders as his eyes flicked from one monitor to the next as they cycled through the various cameras. He froze, seeing static and slammed his hand down on the call button.

“Yes sir?”

“What’s happening to the cameras?”

“Seems like an electrical short, I’ve got a team working on it, sir.”

Another feed went dead. Leonardo felt his pulse pounding in his temples.

“Fall back. Code red.”

“Sir?”

“I SAID CODE RED. GET IN HERE NOW WITH EVERYONE. ALL OF YOU.”

He hit the panic button, some of his terror abating as the steel shutters slammed down into place, reinforced bars covering the inside of the windows as well as the room’s defenses came awake, fortifying his office in anticipation of a siege.

Lionheart fumbled with the lock on the weapons cabinet, cursing under his breath as the adrenaline made his hands shake. Too soft. Too old.

He wrenched the door open at last, clutching his shield to him as he wheeled to stare at the door. It stayed shut, no sound beyond, or maybe he couldn’t hear over his pounding heart.

Lionheart pressed the call button.

“Why aren’t you in here yet? If you aren’t in here in ten seconds you’re all fired.”

Silence greeted him.

“Captain!!”

The sound that came was tinny and distorted by the microphone but Lionheart recoiled when he registered the birdcall. “No… no it’s impossible.”

He hit the button and the doors sealed themselves, reinforced steel slamming shut behind with the soft hiss of pressurization as the chamber sealed him in, the internal air systems kicking on with a pleasant hum.

Lionheart sank into his chair, burying his face in his hands. He must have misheard, that’s all. Sleepless nights and too much stress piling atop each other until he was so addled he was starting at phantoms.

* * *

Something tapped on the metal shutters that sealed him away.

Lionheart gasped, his heart pounding as if it longed to abandon him the way his guards had.

_Tap. Tap._

The sound came low along the door, but he knew it was impenetrable. When he’d made his bargains he had demanded absolute safety. The best guards. The latest protections. No one should even know where to find him, he had taken such care to cover his traps….

_Tap._

“You can’t come in,” he blurted out, startling at the sound of his own voice, so loud in the empty room, echoing off of the blank metal. “You can’t come in,” he whispered, sinking into his chair and staring at the thick steel between himself and whoever was tapping on his door.

Lionheart took a deep breath, pressing a hand to his chest as he focused on calming down. Safe. He was safe. Safe as a vault. Safe as a… safe.

He started to laugh as he embraced the relief, the freedom from fear.

“No one can get through that door,” he called, giggling with excess adrenaline. He should have locked down the moment he began to worry. The guards would clear out the intruders, give the code, and everything would be fine.

_Tap. Tap tap tap._

“Give up! I don’t know who you are and I don’t care! You’re not getting in here! It’s impossible!”

_Click._

Lionheart stared, mouth agape as the shutters began to retract with a screech of protesting metal, his protections falling away leaving him as helpless as a crab when the hammer came out. “No,” he murmured, unable to process what was happening as three figures strode in, spattered in blood as they approached.

“No… no you’re dead.”

“Wrong tense,” Qrow said, wiping Harbinger’s blade clean.

“I mean it might not be,” Tai said, tipping his head to one side as they closed in on the quivering man. “Did you mean we _are_ dead or we _were_ dead.”

“Semantics,” Qrow scoffed. “Clearly we aren’t dead.”

“Quiet,” Raven snapped from behind her Grimm-shaped helm. Qrow and Tai moved in to flank Lionheart who gaped at them like a fish drowning in air, his jaw flapping uselessly, unable to utter a sound.

Qrow yanked away Lionheart’s shield, tossing it aside carelessly before he and Tai gripped the man’s arms to keep him from crumpling to the floor, the once proud headmaster shaking like the last leaf clinging to autumn when winter came calling.

“We have some questions,” Raven said silkily, resting Omen’s tip on the quivering nose, the razor-sharp blade parting skin, a drop of blood joining the sweat pouring off of Lionheart. “You’re a hard man to find.”

“Well you _were_ a hard man to find,” Tai pointed out. “Clearly you _are_ found now. Since we’re here. Finding you. Found you.”

Raven’s helm and Qrow’s face turned to regard their teammate and Tai had no trouble filling in the twin-matched expression of annoyance and disgust hidden by white and red. He beamed at their matched glares. “Clearly we found him.”

A long suffering sigh emerged from the helm as Raven sheathed Omen after wiping it free of blood.

“Please,” Lionheart managed to rasp, choking on terror. “Please let me go.”

“But you haven’t answered my questions yet.”

“I’ll tell you anything. Anything!”

“Where is Summer Rose?”


	2. Ironheaded

_Her life flashed before her eyes as she drowned, a momentary surcease from the pain of dying as she remembered her team, her family, her life. Sunshine and triumph and purpose. Cookies shared and pranks pulled. Battles won. Battles lost. She’d failed them, in the end, though she knew they would blame themselves. Her final moment of consciousness was a memory of the last meal they had shared together and she was grateful that here, at least, she could see them again._

* * *

“If there’s one thing Remnant has an abundance of, it’s ghost towns,” Tai proclaimed as Raven pulled the transport into the concealed space. He hauled the gear they’d taken inside while Raven and Qrow got to work pulling down the netting and vines to conceal any trace of their presence.

Being assumed dead had many drawbacks, among them that they couldn’t risk staying put in any one place for long. The team compensated by scouting out the abandoned towns scattered across the continent, leaving hidden caches of basic necessities and taking care not to go back to any one location for too long. Summer had gone into a city to resupply on dust… and had never come back. Raven took her disappearance to heart and had kept the team moving with merciless determination ever since.

Tai kept one eye on the sky for patrols, senses alive for any trace of pursuit or Grimm. Their small team rarely attracted them but being cautious became a way of life.

* * *

Tai tried not to let the brooding silence the other two brought to the table affect his mood. Qrow had hauled out an old crate of whiskey from under the floorboards and he and Raven had passed it back and forth since they settled into their shelter. Tai picked at his food and looked for something to say to pull them back from thousand yard stares and a nearly empty bottle.

“Where do we go next?”

Bad sign that neither of them so much as twitched. Worse sign that Qrow didn’t look his way before lifting the bottle to his lips again.

Stung by the dismissal, Tai shoved away from the table, getting to his feet. “So what if the only lead we have is Salem? It’s still a direction. It’s not like any of us have ever had the sense to avoid suicide missions!” He needed to move. Needed to scream. Needed to _something_. Summer in Salem’s clutches… They’d all feared it was so, but now they had testimony and evidence of her imprisonment. Delivery. Lionheart had called handing Tai’s wife over to Salem a delivery. Qrow had hauled him back when he saw red at that, shaking with rage. Raven and Qrow had always had better control than him when the stakes were this high.

“Have a drink, Tai,” Qrow rasped, tipping his head back to make eye contact and offering the near-empty bottle to his teammate.

“What good is that going to do any of us?” Tai snarled, pacing back and forth, the unloved floorboards creaking under his feet.

“You’ll attract Grimm if you work yourself up into a tantrum.”

Tai glared at Qrow, then glanced at Raven, who still stared into the ether. She had eaten automatically, taking care of her body the same way she maintained her weapons. “Maybe wiping out some of Salem’s brood would make me feel better,” Tai grumbled.

“And then you’d get all flashy about it and we’d have to move safe houses. Again,” Qrow said calmly, the bottle still outstretched. “And Raven and I have already been drinking enough that you’ll insist on driving and you’ll just keep throwing hissy fits until we’ve blown through all our shelters. Just have a drink.”

Tai felt the despair trying to suck him down and kept pacing, glaring at Raven now. “You have nothing to say? We finally _finally_ have a concrete lead on Summer and-“

“She’s my wife too,” Raven snapped, her red eyes focusing on him. Tai felt that frisson of fear that had so drawn him to her when they first were put on a team together. Raven was the deadliest person he had ever met.

“Where do we go next?” he asked again, trying to keep the pleading out of his voice. Tai was old enough to know his weaknesses. Summer had been their leader with Raven as her right hand. Tai brought the muscle and Qrow the finesse and he had been so sure that they were unstoppable.

Then Summer had never come back.

Raven watched him, then glanced at the bottle Qrow offered. “Have a drink, Tai. Exhausting ourselves with low-ranking Grimm extermination is a waste of time and gets us no closer to getting her back.”

Tai considered, then sat in his chair again, finishing off the bottle and setting it back on the table. “How are we going to get her back?”

“By using our brains,” Qrow teased, kicking Tai’s foot lightly under the table. “Not just our biceps.”

Tai considered punching him in the arm but opted to just smile. “I guess I should have drunk more of the bottle then so you two would be sharper.”

“We need more information,” Raven said. “Salem’s stronghold is one of the few places we know almost nothing about.”

Qrow sighed. “Are we off to see the wizard then?”

Raven grimaced. “No. What we _need_ is eyes in the sky. We’re going to Atlas.”

Tai stared at her. “They’ve got cameras on every corner.”

“Thus why it’s safe to assume they’ve done flyovers of every inch of the planet and will have the most up to date maps.”

“But it’s-“

“If you say ‘suicide mission’ after your little rant about how those don’t scare us off I’m throwing this next bottle at your head,” Qrow complained, leaning over to snag a second bottle out of the crate.

Tai grumbled but took a drink when the bottle was passed to him, trying to work out what strategy could get them in and out of Atlas without setting off every alarm in the place. Their systems tended to get twitchy when they spotted the legally dead wandering around.

Raven and Qrow exchanged exasperated looks as Tai stared into space this time and resumed their heavy drinking.

* * *

Tai had had reason before now to marvel at Summer and Raven’s foresight, but the disguises they’d packed away seemed to be working. At the very least no guards had descended upon them. Between the makeup and the wigs, he had a hard time recognizing his own teammates, an impressive feat.

Qrow led the way this time, having scouted the night before and planning out their route past as few scanners as possible. Their counterfeit IDs were working thus far but the team knew better than to rely too heavily on them as they made their way deeper into dangerous territory.

Three quick swipes and they were through the barriers and boarding transports up to the city proper, keeping their distance from each other to avoid attracting attention as they made an effort to blend in.

* * *

Tai slouched against a wall, idly using a scroll as he kept a covert eye on the street. Across the way Qrow read a news bulletin on a screen as they kept watch for guards or anything suspicious while Raven met with a contact.

The door to the illegal weapon seller’s shop slid open, red light briefly illuminating softly falling snowflakes as Raven emerged, wrapped in a heavy coat. The door shut quickly enough that Tai expected the seller had proven a little too curious, but Raven signaled that they should move forward with their plan.

* * *

You could say a lot of things about Ironwood but you would never call the man subtle. You also couldn’t call him lavish, though Tai found the pristine sterility unpleasant.

His main offices were practically fortified, but they also missed a few key weaknesses, namely that the regimented order structure meant that the underlings in positions of power inclined toward blind obedience. Their team, garbed in stolen uniforms and insignia simply walked in and ordered everyone out for security reasons and just like that only an unlocked office door stood between them and Ironwood.

Qrow fiddled briefly with a computer, locking down the other entrances to prevent any of the underlings from gaining access and nodded once he had things under control.

Raven nodded back, then pushed open the doors and they strolled in under the guise of Atlesian soldiers.

Ironwood looked up from his desk in irritation, looking at their insignia first and then at their disguised faces.

As comprehension of their infiltration dawned, Qrow raised the weapon concealed in his hand and hit him with several lightning dust bullets. The three were moving before the sound died away, grabbing the spasming man before he hit the floor. Tai used a knee to knock the wind out of the downed man as Qrow and Raven secured his wrists and together they hauled the wheezing, twitching heap away from his desk and anything he might have concealed there.

Tai helped prop Ironwood against the window, then stepped back, watching as he recovered from the shock and rapid assault. Qrow righted Ironwood’s chair and began to hunt for the files they needed in the man’s computer.

“Who are you,” Ironwood managed to wheeze.

“Immaterial,” Raven rasped, dropping her voice an octave and keeping her tone harsh.

Ironwood’s eyes widened. “But Team STRQ died.”

Raven paused, glancing at Tai, then shrugged and used her normal voice. “Rumors. Exaggerated. Etcetera.”

Ironwood looked from one to another. Tai watched the curiosity spike when he realized there were only three of them. “Why are you here?”

“Well, James, you’re the one with all the technology and spies and whatnot,” Qrow said from Ironwood’s desk, his fingers flying across the keyboard. “We’re here for a little information. If you’re polite we’ll even tell you which dormitories we hid the explosives in to insure your cooperation.”

Ironwood looked horrified. “Those are <i>children</i> Qrow, you wouldn’t hurt children… you’re… you’re heroes… You fell in battle….”

Raven tapped the barrel of her gun against the metal plate on Ironwood’s forehead. “Pay no attention to him, I’m the one with the detonator.”

Ironwood scowled at her. “You have dragged them so low, Raven. Did you kill Summer so you could turn the rest of your team into this?”

Raven stiffened in shock and rage, that slight hesitation giving Tai the moment he needed to get between her and Ironwood before she could fire. The close range shot shattered his forehead, spraying Ironwood with blood as the heavy body slammed into him and slumped, bleeding sluggishly.

Raven cursed, grimacing at the mess but she took the message and holstered her gun.

“You… you killed him!” Ironwood cried in horror, fighting the bonds on his wrists as Tai’s body slumped in his lap, unmoving. He glared up at Raven. “Is that what you did to her too?”

Raven’s eyes flashed a warning. “Do not threaten me with her. You’re on thin enough ice as it is,” she snapped, then kicked Tai’s shin. “Hurry up.”

“He’s dead! Leave him be!” Ironwood objected, trying to block her next kick with his leg, the horror of death so close at hand still enough to leave him shaken.

“Well at least we know he wasn’t involved,” Qrow drawled, not bothering to look over from what he was doing.

A soft ping of metal hitting the floor was followed by a low groan. Tai lifted his head, wincing and pushed himself up, glancing at Ironwood. James watched, transfixed, as the gaping wound began to knit closed, sealing shut without a trace. Tai popped up to his feet, dusting himself off as he looked at Raven. “Are you calm now? We need him alive.”

“He shouldn’t have said that.”

“You shouldn’t have tried to shoot him.”

Ironwood’s jaw dropped as he stared between them. “How… how is this possible? You were dead!” He looked down at the floor and flinched away from the spent bullet lying beside his leg, the source of the small metal sound. “She killed you!”

“And now I’m fine,” Tai said and shrugged. “I’d feel worse if she’d actually managed to kill you.” He crouched and rapped a knuckle against Ironwood’s metal arm. “We both know you wouldn’t come back from a bullet between the eyes.”

“But… but how?”

Raven clicked her tongue and Ironwood gaped at her. “I’m asking the questions here,” she said. “We need everything you have on Salem’s stronghold.”


	3. Timber

Qrow pushed back the curtain just enough to show his hand, signaling to his waiting teammates that the coast was clear.

Tai held the door for Raven, who rolled her eyes but walked in.

Qrow went through the routines of checking the caches, ensuring that everything that should be here was here, that none of the supplies had spoiled in the interim.

Tai retrieved the small load of groceries. This hideout was one of the few with a stove that should still work, and he intended to take full advantage. He washed pans to use while his teammates prowled about, finally settling with Qrow on guard and Raven disassembling Omen for basic maintenance and to restock the Dust blades with some from their supplies.

Tai cooked in silence for a time with the familiar sound of her working before he couldn’t keep silent any longer. “Raven-“

Raven clicked her tongue, her red eyes flashing when she glanced up to meet his eyes. “Not while we’re working.” She nodded toward the stove.

Tai grimaced but focused on cooking.

* * *

Tai washed the dishes up reluctantly, mind turning over the possibilities over and over, reaching the same unhappy conclusions. They’d been at this too long for him to believe in happy endings.

A hand touched his shoulder and he jumped, whirling, elbow snapping up to smash into the intruder’s face…. And was caught by Raven.

“Easy there.”

Tai blushed and turned back to the dishes. “Sorry.”

“Lost in thought?” Raven leaned her cheek against his shoulder, her arms sliding around his waist.

“Even for us… Salem is…”

Raven kissed his shoulder. “We’re getting Summer back,” she said simply.

“What if the dreams…”

“We would know if she died. Died forever.”

“Would we? What if we’re chasing a ghost or-”

Raven clicked her tongue and bit his shoulder, hard.

“Ow!”

“Stop being so gloomy. We’re getting Summer back.”

“But-“

Raven rolled her eyes and slammed her knee into the back of his, using her arms around his waist to tip him over, felling him like a tree. The look of shock on his face as he toppled past her made her smile.

“Timberrr,” Qrow said quietly, glancing over from his position watching the street through Harbinger’s sight.

Raven put a knee on Tai’s sternum, raising an eyebrow. “Stop being gloomy or I’m getting Omen.”

He hesitated, then smiled ruefully up at her. “We’re getting Summer back.”

Raven patted his cheek. “We have maps. We have weapons. We’re getting our wife back.”

“Team leader,” Qrow interjected. “She didn’t marry all of us.”

“Still jealous, little brother?”

“You could at least let me share _one_ of them. I call that selfish.”

“We shared a womb, that was enough sharing for a lifetime.”

Qrow flapped a hand at them as Raven offered Tai a hand up. He bounced to his feet, barely using her assistance but squeezed her hand once he was up. 

Tai kissed her.

“We’ll get her back.”

* * *

_Silver light illuminated the metal above her, diffused by the murky water. How odd to be blinded by the light from one’s own eyes. She ran her fingers along the grooves she had gouged over a thousand deaths, her fingers unmarred, not even wrinkled from the water surrounding her. Her lungs burned, water crushing in on her from all sides as her body again recognized the danger, fighting the lost battle once more as she spasmed. The light of her eyes died, darkness entombing her once more._

* * *

Raven woke gasping, burying her face against Tai’s shoulder as she gulped air desperately, remembering the feeling of all-consuming panic of drowning. Her hands shook.

Tai’s warm hand stroked her back as he stared up at the ceiling, mouth set in a hard line.

Raven swallowed the rage that burned, the tremor in her hands dying away as she regained control of herself, put the leash back on her fury at what Summer suffered. They would find her. They would free her. If her hands shook with her wrath, her aim would be off.

Steady now, she sat up in their bed, looking down at Tai.

“Salem will pay.”

“Yes.”

“We’ll get her out of there.”

“Yes.”


	4. The Drowned Moon

“Pretentious much?” Tai scoffed as they crept closer to Evernight castle, a looming structure of ominous pillars of softly glowing crystal.

Raven glanced at him once and he dipped his head in acknowledgement of the rebuke and focused on the task at hand.

The roving Grimm took no notice of their stealthy advance. The weakness of Salem’s creations was their reliance on the fear of their pretty to lure them in. To a team that lived in constant danger, they might as well have been walking in the park as they approached both circumstances with an ardent desire not to be detected.

Qrow, leading the way, flashed a few hand signals before holstering Harbinger and beginning to climb the pillar of stone atop which stood Evernight castle. Raven and Tai settled into keep a wary watch for patrols, though it seemed Salem put far too much reliance on the terror so many Grimm would inspire in even most hunters. Team STRQ, since losing the ability to die, had taken great pains to control their reactions to Grimm. Without a fear of death or injury, there was little terror in the monsters. Just another obstacle to cut through.

Tai kept his back against Raven’s as they waited for Qrow’s signal, eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of an alarm being raised but the Grimm simply wandered, looking more like the natural animals they took some aspects from than the destructive forces they became in a conflict.

A cable dropped from above onto Tai’s head and he twitched in surprise. Qrow smirked down at him and blew a kiss when Tai flipped him off. Raven ignored them both and practically flew up to the access hatch as she pulled herself up hand over hand. Tai was less graceful but nearly as fast. Qrow reeled in the line and pulled the grate back into place.

Raven took point as they bypassed more and more of the security measures, slicing in toward the suspected throne room.

She signaled a halt, pressing back against the wall as some of Salem’s minions passed on patrol, idly chatting about some political maneuvering between the kingdoms. Raven didn’t bother to listen with the other half of her heart so near. The dreams had haunted them all for five years. Five years of waking gasping, remembering drowning and reviving and drowning again.

Raven beckoned and they continued moving forward. There was a fair bit of scouting to do to find their quarry. As much as they all wanted to take Salem’s head, denying Summer her rightful prize was out of the question. The quarters for Salem’s human minions were located at last and they laid a careful trap before concealing themselves.

* * *

Another long day. Hazel pushed open the door to his room, rubbing the back of his neck. Curse the Wizard and his lackeys. The academies were anthills, spawning seemingly endless streams of low-level pawns to take down stronger and better foes. Quantity against quality.

Salem churned out her own foot soldiers but Grimm could only go so far and the basest were little better than brutes. Blunt force only got you so far against clever waves of enemies. He sank down onto his bed, barely registering the sudden pain before darkness swamped him.

* * *

Tai stood guard at the door, distantly admiring Qrow and Raven’s efficiency. He could scarcely hear the pained whimpers and moans coming through the door and he knew to listen for them under the hum of machinery down here in the guts of the castle.

No one had come anywhere near this spot, but they hadn’t managed to stay off the radar of all kingdoms for a decade since their first deaths by being cavalier about sensible precautious.

* * *

“Hazel,” Raven said calmly. The large man hung suspended several inches off the ground, the cable they had used to climb into the castle currently cutting off circulation to his wrists and ankles. The room smelled of Hazel’s blood and sweat and fear. Raven wondered sometimes if their revivals meant that they were more akin to Grimm now than human, and the way Salem’s minion’s fear brought out her bloodlust tipped the scale toward inhumanity.

“Hazel, Hazel why won’t you answer our questions? If you keep this up they’re going to have to amputate,” she said, tapping his purple fingers with the tip of her knife. “I know how important your hands are to you, why won’t you just tell me what I want to know?”

Hazel shuddered as she held his elbow still, digging the razor-sharp edge of her knife under his skin and delicately shaving off another millimeter of his forearm. “I don’t know,” he panted. “I wasn’t here when they did it.”

Qrow clicked his tongue and tangled fingers in Hazel’s hair, hauling the man’s head backward. Hazel whimpered at the increased strain on his lacerated wrists, his hands strangling under his own weight. “If all you have to say for yourself are lies, I might as well cut your throat and see if your blood will serve for divinations.”

Hazel flinched, unable to keep from looking for some hope of escape.

“Focus,” Raven crooned, digging the point of her blade into his arm again. “Summer Rose. You brought her to your mistress and then threw the body in some… lake.” Raven punctuated the last word with a cruel cut of her knife that made Hazel keen. “This could all be over if you told us where we could find her body. She deserves a proper burial.”

“I don’t-“

“Oh dear, you’re almost out of time,” Qrow said with mock sorrow, drawing Hazel’s attention to his other arm. Hazel cried out in fear as the blade cut through the last of his pinky, the digit falling curled to the floor, his hand spurting blood until Qrow used fire Dust to cauterize it. “You didn’t even feel that did you.”

Hazel stared in horror at his finger, swallowing bile as Qrow wiggled the remaining four. “Four fingers, four teammates. Give us back ours and we’ll let you keep the rest.”

Hazel couldn’t feel the pain, nerves choked off by the cables. He heard a sizzle, felt the burn as Raven did similarly to his skinned forearm, though that pain he could feel.

“We have all the time in the world,” Raven said. Over Hazels quivering shoulder, Qrow suppressed a snicker at that. How true it was.

Raven considered her targets, then nodded to her brother, who wrapped his arm around Hazel’s throat, pinning the man’s head in place as Raven cleaned her knife on a rag and tucked it away, pulling out a long needle and reaching up to pry open one of his eyes as he bleated in panic. “If you won’t see things my way you just won’t see,” she crooned, the gleaming point moving steadily closer as he tried to struggle, to flinch away.

“The well!” he choked out, defeated.

Qrow loosened his grip as Raven took a step back. “What was that?”

“They dumped her down the old well shaft of the castle… it hasn’t been used in centuries…. Please… please let me go….” Hazel begged, slumping in his bonds.

“Where is the well?” Raven demanded, gripping the needle tight and prepared to slam it all the way into his brain.

“Lowest floor, storage room. The capstone is in place and she’s probably just bones now in an iron box,” Hazel groaned, staring at his severed finger. “You promised you’d let me go.”

“The truth will set you free,” Qrow agreed, slamming the hilt of his blade on the back of Hazel’s skull to knock him out before beginning to untie the cables. They left his ankles tied to opposite wides of the room, the knots well out of reach, and jammed a gag into his mouth to keep him from calling for help immediately. He might survive, might even have the use of his hands again. Eventually.

“The well,” Raven said in horrified relief.

“Let’s go.”

* * *

_Drowning, she was drowning. Summer clawed at the metal, fingers fresh and new and soft enough to tear with the force of her struggles, trying to force the lid open, trying to find her way to air._

_Silver eyes flared uselessly, the water as unaffected as Grimm were not. It didn’t even have the decency to freeze as her body began to spasm, slamming painfully against the unyielding prison._

_The water was in her mouth, in her throat, in her lungs. Even revival couldn’t create air from nothing. Her body renewed and fresh to realize again that it was drowned. Drowned and trapped. Maybe… maybe in a century she and the water would have outlasted the metal. Maybe it would fall to rust and she could be free._

_Summer’s eyes flickered out as her body began to give up once more, dizzy and defeated._

_The scraping sound was new. Her reality jolted and despair swamped her more swiftly than the darkness could drag her down as deep as her prison was sinking._

* * *

“Damn them, damn them,” Tai chanted as he hauled on the cable, not caring that it cut into his hands. They were making progress at last and he wouldn’t let go for anything. The Steel box was nearly as wide as the well shaft and had done some damage to the ancient stone on the way down. Hauling Summer back out had taken far longer than they liked with their goal so close at hand.

The cable passed through small holes originally meant to let the water in, then up over a scaffold they had managed to construct, though they lacked the materials to properly rig pulleys. Tai served as ballast instead, painstakingly winding the cable around himself as they lifted the box out of the abandoned well. The water ran red with blood and they worked with feverish efficiency, unwilling to leave her in there a second longer.

Qrow managed to get a grip on the knotted cable and added his efforts to haul the box up and out, Raven on the other side to keep it from jolting as they lowered it to the ground, murky water gushing out of the holes.

Though all three strained to hear, beyond the gurgle of water and their own panting breaths, there were no new sounds.

Cursing, Qrow tried to pick the lock, but the mechanisms had long since rusted. Tai solved the problem with an axe and Raven clawed the lid open, her heart in her throat.

Summer lay curled as if sleeping, jammed into the tiny space. From the gouges in the metal, Qrow could see how little she had been able to move. Her fingers were torn open, bleeding sluggishly, though the flow halted as Qrow watched, the damage beginning to reverse.

Summer’s eyes flew open and she retched, vomiting foul water as she came to consciousness, choking as they hauled her out and got her onto her knees to get it all out. Raven laughed with giddy relief as she pulled Summer’s hair back out of the way, Tai pointlessly pulling off his own shirt and wrapping it around his wife’s sodden and shaking form as Qrow rolled his eyes.

“Gallant but useless,” he pointed out, peeling the shirt away and throwing it into Tai’s face as he wrapped Summer in a blanket and beckoned Tai. “You’re the space heater, do that instead.”

Summer was shaking like a leaf as Tai wrapped her bundled form in his arms and held her close, chafing her arms through the blanket, grinning from ear to ear. “We found you.”

Raven stroked Summer’s hair, pressing in close, hardly daring to believe that this was real.

Qrow moved to the door to watch for any sign of alarm or patrols.

Summer shivered, her eyes unfocused and seeming unaware of her surroundings.

Raven glanced at the finger marks gouged into solid steel and gently kissed Summer’s temple. “I’m so sorry it took us so long, but we finally found you.”

“We’ll get you out of here,” Tai promised.


	5. Moonlight Exhumed

Tai carried the blanket-swaddled Summer, identity hidden under a long cloak and a helm shaped like a Grimm. Raven and Qrow had donned similar disguises as they retraced their steps. 

Qrow climbed down first, then Tai jumped down to him, jaw clenched to keep the pained noise in when his leg broke on impact, but Summer made nary a sound. Qrow pulled the bone straight for him after Qrow’s own injuries healed, both keeping an eye on their catatonic leader as they waited for Raven to climb down. 

Their retreat proved uneventful, Summer too shattered to feel much of anything and the rest focused on their objective. The Grimm packs paid them no mind, a sure sign that their incursion had not yet been discovered. Raven allowed herself a small smile at that. Maybe Hazel really would die. 

* * *

They had stocked the stolen airship with fresh clothes for all four of them. Blankets and rations, all too aware that Summer had drowned in darkness again and again as her immortality forced her to survive on the brink of death. Small wonder she was all but nonresponsive. 

Qrow got the ship in the air as Summer and Tai carefully cleaned her up, using dampened towels, careful not to pour water on her. She lay passively against Tai, eyes closed, sucking in air like her life depended on it. They dressed her in familiar clothes, wrapped her in one of her favorite cloaks, then changed out of their own bloody clothes. 

Tai carried Summer up to the front of the ship and strapped her into a seat while Raven took over flying so Qrow could get cleaned up. 

“Summer?” Tai asked quietly, stroking her cheek. She’d always told him how much she loved his warm hands. “You’re out… we’re going home.”

Summer said nothing, but she leaned against him when he sat down beside her and held her hand tightly.

* * *

A storm had swallowed Vale, offering further cover as they headed for their least convenient safe house. After some discussion they decided to fly straight home rather than inflict further travel on Summer just yet. Qrow would drop them off and take the ship to where they intended to dump it and make his way home after.

* * *

They had established the house on Patch before Summer had disappeared, their proper home. It had been purchased in cash through proxies and shell companies and false identities linked to nothing beyond the property. Secluded and on a massive piece of land, it was one of the few places that actually felt safe for a team of immortals in a world that didn’t know they existed. 

Tai carried Summer inside as the ship lifted off, Raven watching as Qrow shot straight up to get above the cloud cover and avoid anyone spotting the suspicious activity. The storm had been fortunate indeed. 

Raven activated the defenses, checking that the cameras were operational after so long out of use. She checked the power levels, pleased to see the systems were all in good working order and the power reserves were fully charged. With a smile she flipped on the generators, listening as a deep hum kicked in. Summer deserved light and warmth. 

Tai settled Summer on the couch, swapping the sturdy camping blanket for a soft one pulled out of a chest. Things smelled a little musty after so long left locked up, but there wasn’t terribly much dust and no animals or intruders had gotten in. He crouched on the floor in front of her as she looked around the living room. 

“Summer?” 

She looked at him, managing a small smile. She opened her mouth to speak, then jerked in surprise as the door opened, letting in the roar of the storm, a rain-laden gust of wind, and Raven. 

“Power’s on,” Raven said, flicking the switch on the wall. Lights came on, startling Summer again and she squinted slightly. Her body showed no sign of her long torture, immortality wiping away all physical traces of her trauma. Raven hesitated, then approached, crouching down beside Tai.

“What do you need?” she asked softly, reaching for Summer’s hand. 

Summer hesitated, then reached out, tangling her fingers with Raven’s. She tugged gently, lifting her eyebrows and Raven sat beside her obediently. A glance was enough and Tai plopped down on Summer’s other side, sandwiching her with his solid warmth. 

Summer held both of their hands, her own shaking slightly. “How long?”

Raven flinched. “Five years.”

“Five…” Summer whispered, her grip tightening convulsively. “ _Five…_ ”

Her breaths became gasps as panic swamped her, eyes flaring silver in her distress as she shuddered, clinging to them as she tried to swallow five years of air, to fill her aching lungs. 

“Shit,” Raven cursed as Summer crushed their hands. She managed to twist, pushing Summer’s head down between her knees. Tai held Summer there as Raven stroked Summer’s dark hair out of her face. “You’re out, you’re free,” Raven promised. “You’ll never go back there. We found you.” 

Panicked gasping gave way to sobs as Summer shook, releasing her death grip enough that Tai could gently rub her back, trying to soothe her. “You’re out, you’re out.”

Summer slid forward on the couch, wrapping her arms around Raven and burying her face in Raven’s neck as she unraveled, the terror and torture of the past years pouring out of her as Tai and Raven buoyed her up, surrounding her in warmth and support and love. She waved off their apologies, refusing to let her partners take responsibility for Salem’s machinations and monstrous actions. 

At last she lay spent and swollen eyed in Raven’s arms, Tai gently rubbing her back and murmuring soothingly. Summer looked up at her two favorite people in the world, both red-eyed as well and looking as wrung out as she and managed a shaky smile. “Is the bed still here? I think we could all use some sleep.”

“Of course,” Tai said, then blinked, blushing slightly. “…make that pretty sure. The stove should be working though. Raven? Are you up for making all of us some tea while I make sure the bed’s ok and get the blankets out?”

Raven smiled, wiping Summer’s cheeks gently. “I’ve picked up some new blends. I have one I think you’ll particularly like.”

Summer leaned into her touch and nodded acquiescence, letting Tai help her up and to the table as Raven dug in one of the bags Qrow had helped carry in and coming out with a small tin. Tai waited until Raven was in the kitchen with Summer before kissing Summer’s forehead and heading upstairs to get the bed ready. 

Summer hopped up to sit on the counter to watch, head aching from the protracted crying. “…I felt each of you a little… over the years… Bad moments…”

Raven froze for a moment, her hand on the water pump, then nodded slowly, rinsing dust off of the kettle before filling it. “We could feel you too….” she said quietly. “I’m sor-“

Summer rolled her eyes and swung her foot into Raven’s hip. “Stop that. You and I both know you came as soon as you could.”

Raven smiled coldly, turning away to light the stove. “Came straight through some of her minions to do it.” 

“I’d expect nothing less,” Summer said. “…Are we going to need to move? I expect the pursuit will be rather hot if you’ve been cutting your way to me.”

Raven shook her head, watching the stove for a few moments to be sure it was burning steadily before looking back at Summer. “After we felt you die the second time in the same way…. We prepared this place as a landing site for when we found you and haven’t been back. We’ve barely been in Vale for that matter except for following leads.” 

Summer stared at her. “None of you have been home all this time?”

Raven exhaled, searching Summer’s face as she shook her head. “It’s not home if you’re not here with us.”

Summer’s eyes burned and she reached for Raven’s hand, pulling her in and wrapping her arms around her wife, burying her face in the dark hair. “It wouldn’t be home without you either,” she whispered.

Raven nodded against Summer’s shoulder, then pulled back gently, retrieving her tin and beginning to assemble her ingredients, preparing a teapot and cups as they waited for the water. “We can stay here as long as you like.”

“No pending missions?”

“Nothing since you vanished.”

Summer sighed at the excess, unhappy her team… her family had suffered so because of Salem. “Did you cut through them yourself?”

“The witch and the wizard?” Raven asked, glancing slyly at Summer. 

“Who else?”

“No. We decided it wouldn’t be fair to deny you that closure if you wanted it.” 

“So generous.”

“Well we did have five years’ worth of birthdays to make up for.”

Summer rolled her eyes. At least some things never changed. “Five anniversaries too.” 

Raven smiled. “We can make up for missing those whenever you’re ready.” Her red eyes were suddenly sharp as she looked at Summer. “And not a moment sooner.”

Summer nodded, all teasing gone. “I love you too.” 

Raven ignored the kettle as it began to sing and leaned against Summer, pressing their lips together. 

Summer kissed her back briefly, then smiled against Raven’s lips. “The kettle’s boiling.”

“So it is.”

* * *

The bed was still there, safe under its wrappings. The blankets smelled a little of the moth balls tucked into them to keep insects out but it was miles better than drowning in a steel box at the bottom of a bricked up well. Summer stretched out luxuriously between them, reveling in the ability to extend her arms and legs and taking up far too much of the bed. 

Tai retreated to the edge of the mattress with a chuckle, keeping one hand on her side. “I think you’ve grown since we were last together.”

Raven chuckled as well. “Qrow will want to measure you if we bring it up.” 

“Qrow will have to learn to fly if he tries it anywhere near a drop.” Summer rolled her eyes but tugged Raven and Tai back in, needing to touch them, to remember they were real. “…I refused to really die…” she whispered. “I couldn’t leave either of you.” 

Raven kissed her. “We would never leave you.”

Tai smiled and tipped Summer’s face back toward himself before kissing her in turn. “Welcome home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! I hope you have enjoyed. Let me know if you're interested in more of this story! The AU seems ripe with future possibilities. 
> 
> Also days 1-4 of NaNo 2020 down, 26 more to go!

**Author's Note:**

> Indulging in a somewhat scattershot NaNoWriMo for 2020 to try and get back into the writing swing with quick pieces. Hope you enjoy!


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